Hello Hamilton Real Estate Investor! While negotiating with another agent yesterday, he pushed me for a decision on some repairs needed on a property I had listed on my client’s property. My response was “it’s pretty hard to make a decision without quantifying the repairs.” My point is numbers drive decisions so lets have a…
John RoumanisFeatured Client Case Study John wanted to invest in real estate since he was 22 years old. Growing up in Toronto, he watched as housing prices shot past all expectations, easily topping the stock-market’s single-digit gains. However, things didn’t really start to happen until his mid-30’s, when he met Rock Star real estate agent Erwin…
Hello Real Estate Investor!! I hope you had a great summer! My wife and I just returned from a week in Vancouver and had an excellent time. We can see why Vancouver is consistently the most livable city in Canada with the city nestled in between ocean and mountains and rainforests and underrated beaches. Outdoor…
Hello Real Estate Investors! Who wants to golf?! Not me. Swinging golf clubs is tough on my shoulders as it’s repetitive, I swing way too hard, and I have no technique. It all started when John from podcast episode 6-years-part-time-and-600k-in-returns reached out asking if I wanted to golf and I responded, let’s do something fun…
Hello Real Estate Investors!! We’re back from vacation, a week at a friend’s cottage and I’m more tired than when I left!!! LOL Maybe I’m just getting old and soft but I suck when I don’t sleep in my own bed with my own pillow yet people invite us to go camping… my tolerance for…
We’ve been on quite a run lately!! Real Estate Agent of the Year 2017 by Canadian Real Estate Magazine, THREE members of the Mr Hamilton Team family were awarded as one of the Top Players for 2017…
In my opinion, sellers are looking to capture the gains in their homes thinking we may have peaked and the foreign buyer tax and new budget is the catalyst for home owners to take action.
A great question, and the first question I was asked by a reporter from Postmedia, so I figure I’d share my full answer as I get asked this question ALL THE TIME. To me, it’s an easy answer and it takes more than 60 seconds to explain, so I bore people before they excuse themselves from the conversation :P.
Here is an update on Hamilton’s light rail transit story. I was honoured to be asked by Founding Partner of R.E.I.N., Don Campbell to write a guest post for their members and followers
Thank you Hamilton Real Estate Investors!! This past weekend was the Investor Forum hosted by the Canadian Real Estate Wealth Magazine and what a great week
New Chinese money rules threaten tide of foreign buyers in Canada
I am pleased to announce our client Charles Wah AND our Mr Hamilton Team member Erika Spencer is a finalist for the Top Investor 2017 Awards
The average property in Hamilton went up almost $118,000 in just three years.
The average property price went up on average $3,300/ month
According to the CMHC: “For every 1 per cent increase in Toronto-area home prices, Hamilton sees a 1.4 per cent increase.”
“That marks the biggest increase since the survey began in 2011. And it’s a vast increase over 2015, when there were 195 new downtown jobs.”
One of my favourite authors Brian Tracy said “There are goals and all else is commentary.” On Jan 28th I will be teaching how I plan to achieve my goals
A few weeks ago, I was asked to be the guest co-host on Rogers TV on the Everyday Investor with Rav Toor Show.
Most of your questions are highly dependent on the specifics of a given parcel but I’ve given you some general ideas to think about. As mentioned in my presentation, this is just the tip of the iceberg for development. See below
“The Hamilton Economic Development Office is now pleased to share the news that a brand new interactive zoning tool is available for investors and brokers/realtors.”
Hello Everyone Real Estate Investing in Hamilton Ontario!! I hope you all had a great weekend!! We kicked off the weekend with a jam packed Mr. Hamilton’s Inner Circle Meeting on Saturday morning with some amazing guest speakers!! Hamilton real estate land developer, client, and friend Charles Wah stayed up all Friday night to make…
Please join us in welcoming, Erika Krista Spencer our newest Coach/Real Estate Agent and member of the Mr. Hamilton Team family.
This may be an oversight or unintended consequence, from what I’m hearing from mortgage insider friends, one of the rules changes applies to INSURED mortgages and most investors think, well I put 20% down…
Our Finance Minister made some important announcements that indirectly affect us Hamilton Real Estate investors so I figured I’d share my thoughts on the subject.
For my veteran clients, they laugh and smirk at the idea of NOT being able to buy a quality investment property in six weeks. For novices, including our friends and family who do NOT already invest, the challenge is comparable to climbing Mt. Everest accompanied by the same risks.
A third-quarter report from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) on Wednesday said overvaluation in Hamilton was similar to that of Toronto’s property market.
This past Saturday was our monthly Mr. Hamilton’s Inner Circle meeting and thank you to the almost 50 people who took time out of their busy schedules to advance their learning about Hamilton real estate investing.
GoOntario is planning to bring new weekday GO rail service between the future Confederation GO Station in Hamilton and the Niagara Region starting in 2021, with service to Niagara Falls by 2023.
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario!! Here I am, expecting a typical photo shoot where I pose with something Hamilton related in the background when the photographer, Glen Lowson for the Globe and Mail asked me about the subject of the article. I tell Glen that I partake in the occasional extreme activity to…
Hola from Jaco (Beach), Costa Rica My colleague and friend Carlo are on the Air Canada Rouge plane back to Toronto after 11 days of fun, relaxing, good food, lots of surfing, laughs and getting back to Pura Vida (Pure Life or it’s a way of life. It is a perspective to life that evokes…
Hola Everyone with real estate investments in Hamilton, Ontario!! I’m writing to you from a surfing vacation in Jaco, Costa Rica. It’s quite beautiful here. The people are super nice, the beach is OK, but the waves are great for surfing, I’m told. The cost of living is quite low, and I could definitely see…
Hello Ladies and Gentlemen Hamilton Real Estate Investors!! I hope you all had a great weekend! I know we did along with 700 other attendees of the Real Estate Investment Networks annual ACRE/SOS weekend event. It was a busy weekend and it was so great to catch up and network with many investors. A…
No change to capital gains tax and a new HSR bus terminal within 800 meters of my son’s new house
“Do the thing you fear, and continue to do so. This is the quickest and surest way of all victory over fear.” — Dale Carnegie
IBM moving into Stelco tower, bringing jobs downtown Hamilton
“Amid a rout in global steel markets, the port that serves Canada’s steel town has found a new focus: food.”
Want Something Fun to do that gives back to the Hamilton community at the same time? Hamilton poised to rebound.
New federal mortgage rules requiring higher down payment for homes priced over $500,000 take effect Feb 15
Hamilton is the only housing market at risk of overheating, according a new CMHC report
One thing I think we can all agree on is people enjoy good food and one thing that makes Hamilton stand out is it’s booming food scene
For the most part, Metrolinks will be in charge of Hamilton’s future LRT. #Hamiltonrealestateinvesting
Forbes says only 8% of people achieve their new year’s resolution
When reflecting on 2015, I decided to text my Ex and Hamilton Real Estate to again Outperform other Markets
Different strategies yield different cash flow and appreciation. Which is better?
The Hamilton Basket Brigade – Christmas edition was a success: 200 families in need is bigger than any other brigade in Ontario and it was our smoothest as well to cap off an award winning 2015. New downpayment rules as expected are coming Feb 15th.
Do NOT make the same mistakes renovating a lower city house like this new investor did whe real estate investing in Hamilton
This is Hamilton’s the fifth time in the past six years the city has topped the $1-billion permit mark. The future of investment in Hamilton Real Estate
Just a quick note to say thank you for being part of an amazing 2015 that includes:
Hello Everyone with Hamilton Real Estate Investments!! What great weather we are having! I’m so grateful it’s still warm and sunny out as we installed our Christmas lights on the house this past weekend. I’m already deathly afraid of heights so no way I’m getting on an icy, snow covered roof, I’ll gladly pay someone else…
Hello Everyone Investing in Hamilton Real Estate!! Many investors are solely focused on the economic fundamentals, stats, employment figures, cap rates, vacancy rate etc… That’s fine and all, however the truly sophisticated investors have an intimate understanding of their target neighbourhoods and city. To obtain that understanding, you have to know walkability and the area…
Hello everyone investing in Real Estate in Hamilton Ontario!! Christmas Basket Brigade is coming!! Save the date!! The morning of December 19th!!!! We’re still ironing out details. We’re on the look out for a location as we need a new bigger space since we’re helping so many families, thanks to the generosity of our donors and volunteers!…
Hello Hamilton Real Estate Investors!! A couple weeks ago, James Maggs and I (Erwin) were guests of the Everyday Investors show with my old friend Rav Toor. Rav is a very interesting guy. A long time REIN member, Real Estate Broker, a minister, and he sold all his investment properties and his home so he…
Hello Everyone with Real Estate Investments in Hamilton Ontario!! We hope you had a great Halloween as we did!! This past Halloween was special to us because this was Robin’s first time trick or treating and pumpkin carving, and Bruce’s first Halloween. The family dressed up in a theme of super heroes, Batman, Robin x…
Hello Everyone Investing in Real Estate in Hamilton Ontario!! Too bad about the Blue Jays falling to the excellent team of KC Royals. They beat us in every aspect of the game and I won’t be surprised if they win the World Series. Cherry, Bruce and I were lucky enough to attend game 4 of the Championship…
Hello Everyone Investing in Real Estate in Hamilton, Ontario!! Wow! A huge Blue Jays win and a Liberal majority government. My wife and I did vote last night (we hired a babysitter to do so and drove! How’s that for civic duty? ;)). I do follow a bit of politics, but I don’t like to…
Hello Everyone Investing in Hamilton Real Estate! Did you hear the latest?! The New Housing Price Index (NHPI) rose 0.3% in August, largely a result of higher new home prices in Ontario. The census metropolitan area (CMA) of Hamilton recorded the largest price increase in August, up 0.8%. Builders cited market conditions as the primary reason for…
Hello Everyone Investing in Hamilton Real Estate!! Great news! We exceeded our fundraising target of $12,000 to provide 150+ families in need with a Thanksgiving dinner this Saturday, Oct 10th, at Melrose United Church at 85 Stanley Ave, Hamilton, ON. This all started when I was donating, packing and delivering Thanksgiving dinners in Brampton for the…
Hello Everyone with Real Estate Investments in Hamilton Ontario!! I imagine you’re all fielding questions on real estate investing in Hamilton from friends and relatives with national headlines talking about the Hamilton CMA up 13% on average from August last year to August 2015. Here’s the article in case you’ve been under a rock 😉…
Hello Everyone with Real Estate Investments in Hamilton Ontario!! Every real estate investor needs a power team of professionals to execute on a successful investment. This past summer, our novice clients Alice and George did exactly that when they hired us, the Mr. Hamilton Team, to coach them on the acquisition of their first investment…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario!! As back to school is upon us, I [Erwin] dream about the days our kids go to University, Cherry and I take off for our own vacation, and I’m satisfied in knowing we’ve done everything we could to help them get there. I’ve personally decided that my daughter…
Hello Everyone with Real Estate Investments in Hamilton Ontario!! Contrary to what some political leaders are saying, job growth in Hamilton is near the top in the province and the country!! Yes, Hamilton has lost 10’s of thousands of jobs in the steel sector with the demise of Stelco, but one only needs to look…
Hello Everyone Investing in Hamilton Ontario Real Estate!! Have you seen The Wolf of Wall Street yet? Pardon my (Erwin’s) tardiness if you already have. With young kids, we’re extremely behind on our Hollywood blockbuster movie watching. So far this summer, we’ve only seen Avengers 2 and we had to search for a theater as it was…
Hello Everyone with Hamilton Real Estate Investments!! We’re back from the cottage and a not so restful vacation. This was our third vacation as a parents, but first with five week old Bruce. I remember the old, childless days where I got reading done, brainstorming, returning from vacation full of ideas for our business and recharged.…
Hello Everyone Investing in Hamilton Real Estate!! I (Erwin) received the below question via email regarding last week’s post: My Stocks are up 60% and I’m not happy Hi Erwin I log in and read your blog regularly. Thank you for the info. Just wondering how you invest your RRSP’s into real estate? Also, are you really…
Hello Investors of Real Estate in Hamilton Ontario!! I’ve been busy like all of you are and, admittedly, I’ve neglected my portfolio of equities for close to two years. I didn’t even know my online login to manage them but thankfully, they’ve gone up 60% so you’d think I’d be happy, right? Well, I’m not! When…
Hello Everyone Investing in Hamilton Real Estate!! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend!! We certainly did with the wonderful weather and off the charts guest speaker Donato Cascioli. Don bought his first investment property right out of high school at the age of 19 when interest rates were 8.5%!!! To do the math, a…
Hello Everyone with Hamilton Real Estate Investments!!! On Monday, I had this email waiting for me in my inbox from John, a regular client of mine. John has been buying a Hamilton investment property each year since I met him in 2011 and here’s what he wrote: I wanted to say “THANKS” to all of…
Hello Hamilton Real Estate Investors!! Good news! Our son, Bruce, was born on July 2nd (30 minutes after Canada Day! I was literally watching fireworks from our window in the birthing ward of the hospital). Bruce and mom are well, Robin is acting like she already started her terrible twos. All in all, we’re adjusting to life…
Hello Hamilton Real Estate Investment Owners!! This past Saturday we had one of our best Mr. Hamilton Inner Circle meetings! The consistent feedback we get from our guest speakers is how sophisticated and experienced our attendees are. You see, many real estate investment clubs are “meetups” – they are open to the public and often…
Hello Everyone with real estate investment firms in HAMILTON!! Thank you to everyone at REIN for this past Saturday’s Proactive Property Management workshop! The event was excellent! Host Russell Westcott did not disappoint, Don Campbell as always was on point, and the guest speakers shared a wealth of knowledge on property management – from advertising…
Hello Everyone with Real Estate Investment Property in Hamilton, Ontario!! How was everyone’s weekend? Mine was fantastic! On Saturday, I met with a regular investor near Mohawk College then competed at our in-gym, partner Crossfit competition and won! The key was the more skilled, younger athletes were not available that day 😛 The competition was…
Hello Everyone with Real Estate Investments in Hamilton, Ontario!! This past Saturday we hosted over 40 Hamilton real estate investors and one Durham investor named Quentin D’Sousa, a former teacher and now full time real estate investor who authors books on renovating and property management. Quentin is an expert on wrapping his investments into business…
Hello Investors in Hamilton Ontario!! Did you make it to REIN’s ACRE? If you’ve never heard of it, ACRE stands for Authentic Canadian Real Estate systems hosted by the Real Estate Investment Network lead by best selling author and Canadian investor Don Campbell. This was my seventh ACRE I’ve attended in person plus the take…
Hello Everyone with Real Estate Investments in Hamilton Ontario! Would you believe a 100 year old house that “needs a lot of work done” managed to sell for $300,000 in the Stinson neighbourhood of central Hamilton as a Hamilton home owner sells house for $100 000 over asking? “A home on Grant Avenue was up for…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton, Ontario!!! The City of Hamilton wants to help tenants buy a home in certain neighbourhoods, mostly in the lower city where they could use more investment and pride of ownership. You can read the whole article here and you can read my thoughts on the subject here in my latest…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton, Ontario! Great turnout for last week’s Mr. Hamilton Inner Circle! Sorry if you missed our presentation on our tales from the trenches on strategies to win multiple offer scenarios. One investors even applied what she learned that morning to beat four other offers on a Hamilton investment property that afternoon! She did…
Hello Hamilton Real Estate Investors!! 450 New Jobs are already pouring in to the downtown of Hamilton. One investor even messaged me how ecstatic he was to rent to an A+ tenant in his property on Locke St who is starting a job at McMaster University’s downtown health campus. Hundreds of students are expected to use…
Hello Real Estate Investors of Hamilton, Ontario! Hamilton Will Gain 13,000 New Jobs! You can read the full article here And I gave my thoughts about the 13,000 new jobs to Canadian Real Estate Magazine here so I don’t have to type it for you again 🙂 Pretty exciting stuff for you Hamilton investors who already…
Hello Everyone Investing in Hamilton Real Estate!!! Congratulations to my client and friend Gillian Irving for the massive amount of action she took in the last two years to acquire five investment properties and for being featured in this month’s Canadian Real Estate Wealth magazine in recognition of her accomplishment while holding down full time employment…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario (and surrounding areas)!!! Thank you to everyone who wrote in to nominate us for REIN’s most prestigious award!! This year is my third year as a finalist for the Michael Millenaar Memorial Leadership Award and here is the description from REIN’s website: The Michael Millenaar Memorial Leadership Award is…
Hello Everyone Investing in Hamilton Ontario (and surrounding areas)!!!!!!!!!! December is almost upon us, families are ramping up for Black Friday sales aka the unofficial beginning of the holiday shopping season. The snow is falling as is the temperature, hose bibs are shut off, safety salt is delivered to each of our properties, boot trays…
Hello real estate investors in Hamilton Ontario!! What a fabulous week to be an owner of real estate in Hamilton!!! Did you see CMHC’s outlook for the Hamilton real estate market? If no, then we haven’t been spending enough time together because I won’t shut up about it ever since we attended the CMHC Hamilton…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton, Ontario!! Thanks to everyone who tuned into our monthly webinar last night!! For those that missed it, we covered “How to Inspect an Investment Property” where we touched on the more popular, money-making strategies and landmines in Hamilton investing. If you missed it, don’t worry, we’ll be hosting another webinar Nov…
Hello Investors of Hamilton Real Estate! I trust you’ve all enjoyed your summer!! I know many of you weren’t investing as August was a very quiet month for us yet somehow we still manage to fill the Mr. Hamilton Inner Circle Meetings! So thank you to all the devoted investors for taking the time out…
Hello Investors of Hamilton Real Estate! I hope you’ve all been enjoying your summer! I know our family has 🙂 This is our first summer with Robin and we all appreciate being able to spend more time outside until the dreaded cold comes back. Vacation wise, we took two weeks off at a cottage in…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario!! Drink up Hamilton Investors! The vacant, former Lakeport Brewery in Hamilton’s north end, east of James and it’s 50,000 square foot facility will be back in business later this year. The former company best known for it’s “24 for $24” marketing was sold to Labatts and production was…
Hello Everyone Investing in Hamilton Ontario!! If you haven’t heard, Hamilton is the #2 Investment Town in Ontario, full press release here: Press Release – Top Ontario Investment Town – Hamilton In my conversation with Don R Campbell before April’s REIN meeting, Hamilton’s home values have gone up significantly (as Don had predicted when Hamilton…
Hello Everyone Investing in Hamilton Real Estate! I hope you all had as wonderful a weekend as I did! This past weekend, the family and I attended the Real Estate Investment Network’s ACRE (Authentic Canadian Real Estate) weekend of training. ACRE was my seventh time attending the event and also my six year anniversary of…
Hello Everyone investing in Hamilton real estate!! This first quarter of 2014 is almost over and I hope you’ve all been taking massive action!!!! I know many of you have as these three months have been my busiest ever and it does not help when you have a new BABY!! Here’s Robin at the CN…
Hello Hamilton Real Estate Investors and Happy New Year! (And happy new year to everyone celebrating the new lunar year!!) Thank to everyone who nominated me for the Michael Millenaar Memorial Award for Leadership!! To be nominated was a honour, to win was a complete and utter shock as I do not see myself in same…
Hello Everyone Investing in Hamilton Real Estate! Today is a great day and I’m sure you all breathed a sigh of relief when you heard that sanity prevailed and council made the right decision to vote NO to rental licensing where us good, ethical investors have to pay the price for what bad slumlords have…
Always push your limits. You never know what you can accomplish.
Hello Everyone Investing in Hamilton Real Estate!! Thanks for all the emails, tweets, texts, likes, comments, etc about my laser eye surgery last Friday!! I’m happy to report all is well. The operation itself is a bit awkward since someone is handling my eyes. I can put my own contact lenses in but other than…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario!! I trust you are all either on vacation, back from vacation, or preparing to go on vacation because you’ve worked hard to acquire, fill, and manage your investment properties so go a head and take some time off to recharge and come back stronger! Everytime we go away,…
Hello Everyone Investing in Hamilton Real Estate!! For those of you who already own a piece of Hamilton, I imagine you’re very happy with how your investments are doing (if you’re not, you’re doing something wrong because me and my clients are DAMN happy). Check out the latest stats from the Realtors Association of Hamilton…
Hello Hamilton Real Estate Investors! Today is a good day as I am proud of the two organizations I belong to: Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) and the Hamilton District Apartment Association (HDAA) who have done some seriously excellent work in researching a solution to the City of Hamilton’s redundent, big government, proposal of rental…
Hello Hamilton Real Estate Investors!! For this coming summer, I am strongly considering ditching the eye glasses and undergoing a laser eye correction surgery. As a precaution, my father insists I first consult with an Opthamalogist as to whether I would be a suitable candidate for the procedure. So I did make the drive all…
Hello Everyone Investing in Hamilton Ontario! Oh boy its been busy since our last post! We hosted February’s Mr. Hamilton’s Inner Circle member event and raised $200 for a Room to Read! We collected money and signed leases for four of our investment properties and one more vacancy to go! Good thing we don’t take…
Hello Everyone Investing in Hamilton real estate! Great news! We have an exclusive listings on two CASH FLOW ZONE properties in downtown Hamilton, one of my favourite neighbourhoods for investment! Annual rents are 8.2% of the asking price so click here if you would like more details. Close to the Go Station, St. Joseph’s Hospital:…
Hello Everyone Investing in Hamilton Real Estate!! Great seeing several of you at today’s Rock Star Inner Circle members’ event. It’s always great being in a room full of action takers and I always enjoy catching up with our clients. If you didn’t already know, we have the best clients. Last night, we got an…
Hello Hamilton Real Estate Investors!! It’s been too long since I’ve seen my REIN friends as I had the misfortune of being in Thailand during December’s meeting. The night started at dinner with Margaret, Todor and Andrew Macdonald at an Indian restaurant just east of the conference center. We all got caught up on everyone’s…
Hello Real Estate Investors! Wow! What a great way to kick off 2013! The smiling faces of our successful clients and spending time with like minded folks who want the most in life: most return on their money and living life without regrets. What a great way to start the year!! This is so much…
Happy New Year Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario!! We at Team Mr. Hamilton hope you all had a wonderful holiday to de-stress, spend time with loved ones, vacation and most importantly reset to make 2013 the best year ever! I know we have! I’ll share with you what I did on vacation next week…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario! For those of you who are members of Mr. Hamilton’s REI Community, please save the date: January 5th. Lets kick off the year the right way! Celebrate successes from 2012 and look forward to achieving your investment goals in 2013. In case you are looking for inspiration on…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario!! FYI – I attended CMHC’s Hamilton Housing Outlook Seminar this morning and tweeted a bunch of useful tidbits. Click on the below images if you want to even more updates on real estate and #HamOnt (hash tag for Hamilton on twitter. See! you’re already an expert on twitter)…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton!! Unfortunately, I will be in Thailand on a beach somewhere when December 11th, the next planned meeting for the Planning Department to present its recommendations to the City Council. But I’m doing all I can do to oppose rental licensing and getting the word out!! But I will…
Hello Everyone Investing in Hamilton!! Real estate investing and living for that matter is nothing with out having some fun along the way. You don’t have to wait till you own 10 properties or cashflow 5,000 per month to take some time our from your busy schedule for fun. From all the people I’ve met…
Hello Everyone Investing in Hamilton Real Estate! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I know I certainly did even though my weekends are a wee different than the general population. But that’s what being a real estate investor is all about, we are different, the masses will not do what we do and that…
Hello Everyone Investing in Hamilton Real Estate!! Hope you’re all doing wonderful in your lives and in your real estate. If you own property in Hamilton, there’s a 7.9% chance that you do. 7.9% increase in Hamilton average resale price that is!! For those of you who have already calculated, understood the risks and took…
Hello everyone investing in Hamilton real estate!! When news broke that city council will debate rental licensing (article here) my first thoughts were: This better make sense and not be a cash grab like Waterloo Cracking down on absentee landlords and slums is a good thing How are our properties in terms of Fire Code…
Hello Everyone Investing in Hamilton Real Estate!! For anyone investing in and around downtown, news that a brand new 55,000 square foot grocery store (something the downtown has been lacking) is coming to Jackson Square. Link to article. Now our current and future downtown tenants will be able to walk to buy groceries. This is…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton!! How has your summer been? Hope you’ve all taken some time to enjoy the warm weather outside, recharge your batteries, and learn something new. For my girlfriend and I, we took off for 11 days to Calgary for a friend’s wedding and made a vacation out of it. A…
Hello Everyone Investing in Hamilton Real Estate!! Hope you’re alll enjoying the early summer weather! With all this extra heat, I figured the market would cool since fewer people would want to look at property but that wasn’t the case….. Last Friday I was out previewing properties on my own and hit paydirt on the…
Hello Investors of Hamilton Real Estate!! Is Anyone else out there tired of having to defend investing in Hamilton? A novice investor from the GTA asked me on Saturday, “I heard the steel industry is dying in Hamilton so all the jobs a leaving,” a common sentiment for those without a geographic focus on Hamilton……
Hello Everyone Investing in Hamilton Real Estate!! Are you a sophisticated investor? What does that mean to you and why is it important to be one? I’ll give you one little hint, sophisticated investors do deals and unless you do deals, you’re sitting on the sidelines. Sitting on the sidelines is something I have a…
Hello Everyone Investing In Hamilton Real Estate!! As the weather gets warmer and family/friend gatherings increase at BBQ cook outs, aunts and uncles, friends you haven’t seen in a while… the conversation always goes “So what is it you do?” To which I hope you’re all responding “I invest in real estate” And the inevitable…
Hello Everyone Real Estate Investing in Hamilton Ontario!! I’M BACK!! Back from a Carnival Cruise in the Western Carribean My favourite thing about getting away other than the great food, warm weather, visting new exotic locations, hitting the beach, zip lining, snorkelling reefs with tropical fishes, midnight buffets, water slides, sleeping in, no Black Berry,…
Hello to all real estate estate investors in Hamilton Ontario!! VACATION ALERT: while you read this, note that I’m far away somewhere in the Carribean on a big luxury cruise ship so please leave me some investment property for when I get back. Pretty Please!! Now back to your regularly scheduled post… That’s right! Invest…
Hello to All Investing in Hamilton Real Estate!! The mild weather and lack of snow in Hamilton has led to many things: Me re-thinking the purchase of expensive winter tires Saving a bundle in heating my vacant house under renovation Not having to shovel my driveway once all winter thus far (knock on wood) Vacancies…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario!! In case you missed it and I know many of you have because you look surprised when I bring it up…. up to 1,900 jobs on the way to Hamilton in the north end. Click here for the article and here is my summary and analysis: 1.5 billion…
Hello Investors Investing in Hamilton Real Estate!! Boy oh boy are you investors keeping me busy! So busy that I’ve been planning this post since late 2011 when I attended the Hamilton CMCH 2012 Outlook Conference. On top of helping investors I’ve been busy selling my own house, buying another, renovating, dating my girlfriend, going…
Hello Real Estate Investors in the #1 Investment Town (aka Hamilton), ACRE is coming ACRE is coming!!! What is ACRE you say? It’s an acronym for Authentic CANADIAN Real Estate program and its coming this April on the luckiest day of the year, Friday the 13th (to 15th). This year marks my fifth consecutive ACRE…
Happy New Year to all of you investing in Hamilton Ontario!! Boy oh boy what a 2011 to look back on and even more importantly Hamilton’s 2012 to look forward to. I’ll be posting about the former and the latter later this month so this will actually be about planning your investments for 2012 but…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario! Did anyone happen to read the article in the Hamilton Spectator titled: Hamilton ownership gap windening for first-time buyers… Wow, is the glass ever half empty!?!? The article then leads off with “Hamilton’s housing market will lead the country next year — for some buyers.” and “Hamilton is…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario!! Have you ever gone through a property and said “If only the bathroom were updated and the carpet were replaced with laminate, and yada yada yada, then this property would be perfect as an investment property” I know my investor clients have, especially the ones that are tight…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario!! You know I’m still surprised to speak to real estate investors who haven’t considered investing in Hamilton. Take for example my friend Michelle who lives in Markham (I know it’s a bit of a drive from Markham to Hamilton but no excuses, another client of mine has five…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario!! Did you know 80% of Financial Advisers (aka mutual fund sales people) invest in real estate? What you say? 80%??! I thought the same thing when you consider how many people I know invest in mutual funds compared to real estate… How did I find out? Well, I…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario!! Remember when I posted about Major Employers Coming?? Well I was driving on Stone Church near Pritchard with a REIN and RSIC member client and what did I see? A parking lot full of Bell service vehicles, somewhere around 40-60 of them and a large building behind it…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario!! Good news! Last week, Canada Bread company opened its doors in the Red Hill Business Park!! Welcome to Hamilton Canada Bread and the 300 plus jobs that you bring!! Read the article here or keep reading for my summary and analysis: 385,000 square foot facility/bakery, the largest of…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario!! How was your weekend?!??! Here’s how mine went! (It was actually the weekend before but this is the first chance I’ve had to sit down and blog :)) Friday: I have a fear of heights. Whenever I’m a few storeys up, I always peak over the edge and…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario!! I’m back!! Just in case you didn’t notice 🙂 I was away on vacation at a friend’s cottage for a week since August is historically a pretty quiet month (except for the exclusive listing near James North I signed and sold in 24 hrs right before leaving… life…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton, Ontario!! Sorry for not posting for a few weeks but it has been a bit busy in these parts (and I write my own posts, no shadow writers here!!): Following my presentation at REIN in July, I have been just swamped with requests for more information on investing in…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario!! Big thank you to REIN, Don, Russell, Patrick, Melanie, Alyssa and the whole REIN team for allowing me the opportunity to share with the Ontario REIN members my knowledge of Hamilton and the Hamilton Mountain. Thinking back, it was in January 2011 when Russell told me to fill…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton!! This will be a quick one… was typing this as an update on facebook but it was just too long… Anyways, here’s how today went… First meeting of the day is with a city planner to talk zoning and possible uses for a property that isn’t yet for sale. …
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario!! As some of you already know, I have a presentation on the topic of Hamilton at the Real Estate Investment Networks meeting on the July 7th. Sooo, I’ll be going underground for awhile to research and work on my presentation and unfortunately no regular post this week but…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario!! Below is an email sent to Maria and I from one of my youngest clients but she’s also one of the biggest action takers. Here’s how her deal went down. I was out previewing properties including a for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) near James North and within 800 meters of the…
Hello Hamilton Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario!! The question that comes up time and time again is “how do I come up with the 20% downpayment?” and “What is Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) and how does it work?” We have a couple HELOC’s, one each on our principal residence and our previous…
Hello Hamilton Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario! I’m registered for REIN™’s Multi-Family Investing Bootcamp on June 18 & 19 at the International Centre in Toronto. I heard great things about the event in Edmonton last year so there’s no way I’m missing this event when it’s just a short drive away. So without further…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario!! You wouldn’t believe it but the very same day Hamilton was named the #1 investment town in Ontario a real estate investor asked me “is it too late to invest in Hamilton?” Fortunately for the well informed (aka those who follow MrHamilton.ca) know about the bright future that…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario!! Have you been to downtown Hamilton lately? Have people told you that’s an area to stay away from? Maybe you should go for a walk of downtown sometime soon with eyes wide open because there’s no way you can miss the signs of renewal. But don’t take…
Hello real estate investors in the #1 investment town in Ontario!! What? A stinky, dirty, dusty steel town is the top place to invest in Ontario? #3 overall in Canada?? Well it’s true according the REIN President Don R Campbell. Read the full article here. Here’s my summary and analysis: Hamilton was awarded the distinction…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton, Ontario!! What is McMaster Innovation Park (MIP)? McMaster University has transformed some brownfields and warehouses into a research park, building on the University’s existing reputation as a research centre of excellence. This area and the surrounding area known as the “innovation district” will be the source of many advanced…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario!! Check out all the comments on my last post regarding the condo lofts developement in West Harbour! Steve Kulakowski from Core Urban Inc. was kind enough to comment on why they chose this site. Before the Hamilton market update, how is everyone doing? Me? It’s been pretty busy…
Hello Hamilton Real Estate Investors!! Remember last week’s post when I was in Bayfront Park? If you missed it, here’s the post. If you’re not from Hamilton, don’t yet invest in Hamilton but are considering it, one of the hottest neighbourhoods is James North and the West Harbour. For those of you who had any…
Hello Hamilton Real Estate Investors! I was early for a meeting at a new condo development in the Hamilton West Harbour so I went for a stroll in Bayfront Park and figured I would let you all know what a nice place the West Harbour is to both live or invest. If you don’t already…
Hello Hamilton Real Estate Investors!! This week’s post was inspired by my one of my long time real estate investing buddies Todor Yordanov from Proact Investments. In Todor’s post titled “Why Real Estate is so POWERFUL – Attempt at explaining it” he tells his personal story in how his great-grandfather’s home, now a retail store,…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton, Ontario! We have a special treat for you in the form of a guest post by my friend, client, and Hamilton real estate investor Neil Uttamsingh of FirstRentalProperty.com. As the headline states, this is all about fear and overcoming fear which all entrepreneurs must do on a regular basis. …
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario! Did you happen to catch my last post on the secret of townhouse condos? Check out the questions and comments by some experienced Hamilton investors including Jeff Varcoe himself from Corner Select Properties who took the time to respond to some questions as well. For this week’s post,…
…. that no one is talking about Hello Hamilton Real Estate Investors, A client of mine who owns a townhouse condominium (THC) in Hamilton mentioned to me that in the same complex as his property, there are currently three vacancies. That’s a lot! (thankfully he already has a tenant on a 12 month lease) So…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario!! The image to the left is appropriate for a couple reasons: Melissa is returning today from a well deserved vacation in Punta Cana with her mother and I’m scrambling to clean the house and prepare a Valentine’s Dinner at home. Also, there are some newsworthy stories from the…
Hello real estate investors in Hamilton Ontario, Note the change in date for our regular monthly Hamilton Investors meeting. Have a great Super Bowl Sunday everyone!! Go Packers! Hamilton Investor Meeting 7pm, February 13th, 2011 Williams Coffee Pub, 2070 Appleby Line, Burlington Hope that helps! Till Next Time – Happy investing everyone! Erwin Szeto MrHamilton.ca…
Hello investors in Hamilton real estate, After a day of looking at multi family properties in the lower city of Hamilton with a new client, I was driving by the new, sold out subdivision a short distance from my house so I thought I’d stop to share some business lessons I’ve learned by shooting a…
Check out this 3 bedroom – 1 1/2 Storey home on the Hamilton Mountain spacious and updated kitchen with a built-in dishwasher and microwave lots of new windows have been upgraded roof, furnace and hot water tank all new as of 2008 deck and interlocking patio deep fenced backyard with a shed Did I mention…
Hello real estate investors in Hamilton, Ontario! I was at a real estate networking event recently where I was speaking to an investor who recently purchased a multi-family property on King St E in Hamilton, Ontario. I’m always excited to talk real estate, especially multi-family properties, and especially if its in Hamilton 🙂 The discussion…
Hello real estate investors in Hamilton, Ontario! If you haven’t had a chance to check out the recently renovated Hamilton Central Library you definitely should. It’s just more proof of the gentrification going on in downtown Hamilton. Check out this video I took while I was there on Thursday. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca4LJboNpDU That’s me and Maria my…
Hello real estate investors in Hamilton, Ontario! Two really positive stories to come out of Hamilton today! First, The city’s downtown core is adding jobs and residents — a total of 2,700 since 2001. More than 1,600 businesses now employ 23,400 people, making average salaries well above the city and provincial averages. Second, ArcelorMittal will…
Hello Hamilton real estate investors! Hands up if you saw this coming. Here’s the article from the Spec and here is an online chat with Mayor Bratina and Ti-Cats owner Bob Young from the National Post. Here are my takeaways and analysis: What just happened?! Of all the proposed stadium locations Aldershot in Burlington, Centennial…
Hello Hamilton real estate investors! Lots to cover in today’s post so bear with me! I often spend some time reading other blogs for my own personal development and as research for this blog. In doing so, I came across two excellent posts: 1. The first by my newest client, real estate educator and minor…
Happy new year Hamilton real estate investors! Great news! One of the best real estate investing blogs for beginners www.FirstRentalProperty.com named MrHamilton.ca as one of the Top 10 Blogs for Real Estate Investors in 2010. It truly is an honour to be mentioned along side the greatest minds in Canadian real estate investing: Tom and…
Happy New Year Hamilton Real Estate Investors! 2010 was a monster year for Hamilton and we are still many years away from seeing the “Steel” City’s complete transformation into an economical power house where everyone wants to live but we have seen many signs that corroborate Dalton McGuinty’s prediction that “the next 10 years belong…
Hello Hamilton Real Estate Investors! Anyone out there want to know where the future Go Stations in Hamilton are going to go? If you don’t, I guess you’re not interested in getting higher rents of 10-16%…. I just happen to be so here’s the lastest: These are the stations that will be built as part…
Hello Hamilton Real Estate Investors, Today’s post is not real estate related but instead one of my other passions: physical fitness and I felt I had to write this post after watching the trailer for Tim Ferriss’ new book, The 4-Hour Body. Now please don’t get me wrong, I’m a big Tim Ferriss fan and…
Hello Hamilton Real Estate Investors, Today’s post is inspired by my clients Diane (REIN member) and Tania who recently purchased a Mr Hamilton’s Best Buy, signed a tenant, collected first & last month’s rent one week before closing at rent of 9% (annual, plus utilities) of purchase price and the tenants moved in 11 days…
And there is still one more month to go! Hello Hamilton real estate investors, Here’s a summary and my analysis of the article: 2010’s new record $1 billion in building permits surpasses the previous mark by about $200 million. Just under 50% is commercial and industrial > these structures will house permanent JOBS Driving factors:…
Hello Hamilton Real Estate Investors! As some of you know, I was helping Canadian Real Estate Magazine research Hamilton, Ontario for this January’s article about investing in Hamilton. They also asked that I contrbute what I believe are the top five tips for the Hamilton Investor and here they are (note: I’ve made some edits…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario, Please click here: CMHC_PPT_Slides to download an excellent CMHC presentation re: Ontario as a whole and the Hamilton region. Highlights and my analysis from the presentation: Ontario: Worst of the economic cycle is behind us The public’s uncertainty caused by the recession delayed people’s home purchasing decision US…
Please click on the below YouTube for my introduction to today’s post. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtjBq8ASafg&feature=player_embedded Hello real estate investors in Hamilton Ontario, For today’s post we have a special interview of a Marketing expert and Hamilton real estate investor Lisa Smart. According to Lisa, video and youtube are highly search engine optimized so I figured I would…
Hello Investors! Here are some “Glamour Shots” I had taken at Gore Park in downtown Hamilton by my friend and photographer extraordinaire Pat Tea. The pictures are for this website, Facebook and marketing in general. If you need a professional photographer, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Pat. Pat shoots a lot of high end events…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario, Click here to download the most recent report on the LRT from the city of Hamilton Ontario. The report explains key benefits of rapid transit including stimulating the economy, revitalization, improving quality of life, and environmental benefits. Here are some of the included maps: B-Line: highest priority, three…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario, I’ll be out scouting eight residential investment properties in Hamilton Ontario this Saturday starting around 9ish. On the docket are some small multi-family, properties with second suites and some in need of some TLC in areas of re gentrification and/or planned transportation improvements. If investments such as these…
Two Hamilton steel mills, and more than 100 jobs, shut down by U.S. Steel are being brought back to life by a new owner. Click here for the full article. Don’t have time to read the full article? Here are my takeaways: Max Aicher Inc. purchased two steel mills to manufacture steel for auto parts…
Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario, More good news! Joint Venture With Chinese Company Creating Up To 300 Jobs. Link to article here Don’t have time to read the article? Here are my takeaways: JNE Consulting and Chinese-based Daqo Group Co. Ltd., are building the $5 million project, expected to be completed within two…
No light-rail trains before Pan Am Games. Full article here No time to read the article? Here are my takeaways: there is simply too much planning, design, engineering, environmental study and construction work to complete and senior officials did not want roads torn up during the Games goal will now be to have all the…
Not just any other meeting! I got a copy of the presentation delivered last week regarding the LRT. I’ll post a link once I can find it online so for now, only my clients get to see the updated presentation and maps 🙂 I’ll post more once I’ve had sometime to sift through all the…
Hello Investors of Hamilton Ontario! Today’s post is a special one as I have been meaning to do this for sometime but there were other posts that needed to be written so this kept getting delayed, delayed, delayed, etc…. And Season II of the Jersey Shore has ended so I’ve freed up some time 🙂…
Ornge – Ontario’s air ambulance service will relocate its southern Ontario operations to a hanger at Hamilton International Airport. For the complete (short) article click here. The reasons for the move are: Toronto Island Airport does not allow for the expansion Ornge is looking for Pearson doesn’t not have the helicopter facilities plus the air…
Hello Real Estate Investors of Hamilton Ontario! Today’s post is inspired by my recent meeting with a writer from the Canadian Real Estate Magazine regarding an upcoming article on investing in Hamilton. At the meeting, the writer asked me many questions on investing and Hamilton and really they were no different from the questions I…
Wise words from my fellow Rock Star Coach Andrew Palhetas! Did you know you are likely the average of the five people you associate with the most? So for ambitious people like real estate investors, it makes sense to spend as much time as possible associating with like minded people and people who already have…
Hello investors of real estate in Hamilton Ontario! I hope there are more of you now after that excellent bus tour of Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge (KWC) and more importantly Hamilton Ontario 🙂 This is how REIN positioned the field trip: How a Simple Luxury Bus Ride Can Help You Accomplish More In A Single Day For Your…
Hello Real Estate Investors of Hamilton Ontario, I’d like to introduce you to Andy who is a Rock Star of an investor. Why is he a Rock Star? Because he just gets it. He knows his stuff, he gets educated by being a REIN member and Rock Star Inner Circle client, he’s committed, he’s implementing…
U.S. Steel has announced it will shut down the plant’s remaining blast furnace in the City of Hamilton Monday and wouldn’t be starting it up again until “market conditions improved.” Link to article If you don’t have time to read the article, here are my takeaways: According to US Steel, shutting down the blast furnance…
Hello Investors, This is a fun post but I will mention what I learned about multi-family investing near the end so here goes! This past weekend, I took some time off to visit my friend Mark’s new house and new home gym in Toronto where I trained with some serious athletes. Clint benches a measley…
The Conference Board of Canada, a not-for-profit Canadian organization dedicated to researching and analyzing economic trends expects Hamilton’s economy to grow by 4.5% this year, the city’s strongest this decade. Read about the full article from the Hamilton Spectator here Too busy to read the whole article? Here are my takeaways: The city is on…
Looks like it’s going to be west of downtown and a brownfield but not the West Habour. Link to article Don’t have time to read the article? My Takeaways: It’s across the street from McMaster Innovation Park Accessible by the 403 w/ ample parking, both requirements of the Ti-Cats Sept 30, council will know if…
Good afternoon investors! I just spent all morning reading CRA documentation and calling them to figure out the step by step logistics. Here’s what I’ve found: I already wrote about how to calculate the rebates here Next question is who collects the rebate? The investor! According to CRA’s rules, if a new construction residential property…
Good morning readers! The most popular question I’ve been receiving is about the location of the proposed stadium so I thought I would post my thoughts to share with you all. My personal preference for the location of the new stadium would be the West Harbour location and its for many reasons. If you’ve been…
Good morning Hamilton Investors! The closing of the Hamilton Siemens plant is planned for next year in July. Click here to link to the article in the Hamilton Spectator Don’t have time to follow the story? Here are my takeaways: The reasons for closing the plants are: incentives from their new home in North Carolina…
Is anyone else having trouble understanding how to calculate HST on a new construction house intended as new rental housing? I’m working on a tenant first Rent-to-Own deal in Barrie (I know, it’s not Hamilton but they weren’t willing to commute from Hamilton to their jobs in Barrie, high paying jobs I might add) on…
Canada Bread Company is making its new home in the City of Hamilton, Ontario on the Mountain: link to article in the Hamilton Spectator Don’t have time to read the article? Here are my takeaways: Canada Bread company, a division of Maple Leaf Foods is consolidating and relocating three bakery plants to build one plant…
Hamilton is described in the ebook authored by REIN Canada (found here) as follows: “Hamilton Located in the ‘most densely populated corridor of economic activity in Canada’, the City of Hamilton is poised for continued growth. Known formerly as a hard‐working steel town, Hamilton has transformed itself into a diverse economy. A forward thinking government…
Tracking the LRT, link to article If you don’t have the time to read the article, here are my five takeaways: A consultant was hired to conduct a 3-million dollar planning, design and engineering study for a 16-kilometre, east-west track throught the downtown and write a preliminary design report. The preliminary design report will show…
The city has voted: West Harbour Wins the Day!! I can picture it now when watching the Pan Am games on television how the opening shots of Hamilton will be from the lake of a revitalized downtown and a brand new stadium all Hamiltonians can be proud of. A stadium they traveled to by taking…
